An integrated approach to constructing ecological security patterns and identifying ecological restoration and protection areas: A case study of Jingmen, China

Researchers and managers of natural resource conservation have increasingly emphasized the importance of maintaining a connected network of important ecological patches to mitigate landscape fragmentation, reduce the decline of biodiversity, and sustain ecological services. This research aimed to guide landscape management and decision-making by developing an evaluation framework to construct ecological security patterns. Taking the Jianghan Plain as the study area, we identified key ecological sources by overlaying the spatial patterns of ecological quality (biodiversity, carbon storage, and water yield) and ecological sensitivity (habitat sensitivity, soil erosion sensitivity, and water sensitivity) using the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model and the Chinese Soil Loss Equation Function. Ecological corridors were obtained by the least-cost path analysis method and circuit theory. A total of 48 ecological sources (3812.95 km2), primarily consisting of water area, forestland, and cropland, were identified. Ninety-one ecological corridors were derived, with a total length of 2036.28 km. Forty barriers and 40 pinch points with the highest improvement coefficient scores or priority scores were selected. There were 11 priority corridors with very high levels of connectivity improvement potential and conservation priority, occupying 16.15% of the total length of corridors. The overall potential for ecological connectivity is high on the Jianghan Plain. Our framework offers a valuable reference for constructing ecological security patterns and identifying sites for ecological restoration at the regional scale.

Designing Ecological Security Patterns Based on the Framework of Ecological Quality and Ecological Sensitivity: A Case Study of Jianghan Plain, China

Construction and optimization of ecological security patterns based on social equity perspective: A case study in Wuhan, China

With rapid urbanization destroying the ecological environment, scholars have focused on ways to coordinate harmonious development using urban spatial layouts and landscape ecological security. To explore landscape ecological security (the landscape elements, spatial positions and connections that are of key significance to the health and safety of ecological processes) from the perspective of urban form evolution pattern will help to open a new perspective of urban management research, and become the basic work of urban space policy and the implementation of the beautiful China strategy. Based on urban growth and land use data from 356 cities in China, this study applied a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to quantify the impact of China’s urban growth pattern on landscape ecological security at the spatial level. The research results show that: (1) To some extent, the infilling growth pattern has a certain effect on the enhancement of regional landscape ecological security; (2) In the three control variables (DEM, Population density and GDP), the following conclusions are drawn: regional landscape planning should reasonably allocate landscape resources according to the local topographic features to obtain a higher landscape ecological security; The increase of population density leads to the fragmentation and diversity of the landscape in some regions, which makes the landscape ecological security weak; more economically developed areas have stronger landscape ecological security. This paper highlights the importance of urban growth patterns to landscape ecological security. In addition, considering the different urban evolution trajectories in developed and developing countries, this study proposes targeted development recommendations, providing a reference for urban managers to formulate reasonable development policies and to realize sustainable development with the goal of landscape safety management and control.

Effect of Compactness of Urban Growth on Regional Landscape Ecological Security

With the acceleration of economic and social development and the increasing competition between multi-functional spaces, the coordination and stability of land space have been seriously affected. In order to simulate the conflict pattern of “production, living ecological” space and analyze its evolution characteristics, taking Qianjiang City as the research area and based on the current data of land use, the FLUS (Future Land Use Simulation) model and spatial conflict measurement model are used to calculate the change trend of “production, living ecological” spatial conflict in Qianjiang City in the past and in the future. The research results are of great significance for the scientific use of land space and the optimization of regional development patterns. The results show that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the level of spatial conflict in Qianjiang City showed an upward trend, the proportion of medium and above conflict units gradually increased, and the conflict level in the study area gradually became dominated by strong conflict. (2) Due to the process of urbanization and the continuous growth of population and GDP (Gross Domestic Product), the construction land in Qianjiang City shows a rapid increase trend under three scenarios, and the cultivated land area shows a downward trend. (3) In 2035, under the three scenarios, the spatial conflict in Qianjiang City will be strengthened, mainly at the level of medium and above. (4) According to the change degree of conflict transformation, 15 change types are divided into five functional zones: ecological protection zone, ecological conservation zone, modern agriculture zone, urban–rural development coordination zone and urban optimization zone.

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Conflict Identification and Zoning Optimization of “Production-Living-Ecological” Space

Jiuquan City is a typical ecologically fragile area in the arid areas of Northwest China, and unreasonable human activities directly affect the regional ecological security. Scientifically, it is necessary to construct an ecological landscape pattern on the basis of ecological security evaluation. This paper selected evaluation factors based on the perspective of “environmental base and human interference”, used spatial principal component analysis (SPCA) to comprehensively evaluate the regional landscape ecological security, and used the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model to construct the regional ecological security pattern. The results show that the overall ecological security level of the study area is low, and the area with a moderate safety level and below is 122,100 km2, accounting for 72.57% of the total area of the study area. The total area of the identified ecological source area is 6683 km2, the spatial distribution is extremely uneven, and it is extremely concentrated in the southern region; 32 ecological corridors with a total length of 3817.8 km are identified, of which corridor NO. 1–4 run through the Qilian Mountains, 11 oasis areas, and 14 nature reserves. The length of ecological corridors is 1376.1 km, accounting for 36.04% of the total. Forty-two ecological nodes are identified, and the central corridor area is more distributed; four ecological restoration zones are divided, including an ecological conservation zone, ecological improvement zone, ecological control zone, and ecological restoration zone, with areas of 34,380.3 km2, 61,884.4 km2, 21,134.4 km2, and 50,648.3 km2, respectively. Through the delineation of the urban ecological network pattern composed of source areas, corridors, and nodes, as well as the delineation of ecological restoration zones, the ecological security level of the study area will be effectively improved. Furthermore, a new method of ecological restoration zoning will be used, hoping to provide a useful reference for improving the quality of the ecological environment in arid areas and optimizing the spatial pattern of the land.

Research on Landscape Pattern Construction and Ecological Restoration of Jiuquan City Based on Ecological Security Evaluation

Multidimensional poverty alleviation effect of different rural land consolidation models: A case study of Hubei and Guizhou, China

Objective Diet acidification supplementation is known to influence intestinal morphology, gut microbiota, and on phosphorus (P) utilization of broilers. Alterations in intestinal barrier and microbiota have been associated with systemic inflammation and thus regulating bone turnover. Hence the effect of acidifier addition to drinking water on tibia mass and the linkages between intestinal integrity and bone were studied. Methods One-d-old male broilers were randomly assigned to normal water (control) or continuous supply of acidified water (2% the blend of 2-hydroxy-4-methylthiobutyric acid, lactic, and phosphoric acid) group with 5 replicates of 10 chicks per replicate for 42 d. Results Acidification of drinking water improved the ash percentage and calcium content of tibia at 42 d. Broilers receiving acidified water had increased serum P concentration compared to control birds. The acidified group showed improved intestinal barrier, evidenced by increased wall thickness, villus height, the villus height to crypt depth ratio, and upregulated mucin-2 expression in ileum. Broilers receiving drinking water containing mixed organic acids had a higher proportion of Firmicutes and the ratio of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, as well as a lower population of Proteobacteria. Meanwhile, the addition of acidifier to drinking water resulted in declined ileal and serum proinflammatory factors level and increased immunoglobulin concentrations in serum. Concerning bone remodeling, acidifier addition was linked to a decrease in serum C-terminal cross-linked telopeptide of type I collagen and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase reflecting bone resorption, whereas it did not apparently change serum alkaline phosphatase activity that is a bone formation marker. Conclusion Acidified drinking water increased tibia mineral deposition of broilers, which was probably linked with higher P utilization and decreased bone resorption through improved intestinal integrity and gut microbiota and through decreased systemic inflammation.

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Acidification of drinking water improved tibia mass of broilers through the alterations of intestinal barrier and microbiota

Using the four periods of land use data and socio-economic statistics of Lanzhou City in 1995, 2005, 2015 and 2018, we examined the evolution characteristics and driving forces of urban land use in Lanzhou, with expansion intensity index, Logistic regression, and principal component analysis method. Based on the multi-agent model, the expansion of urban land use in Lanzhou under multiple scenarios in 2025 was simulated using Netlogo software. The results showed that the intensity and scale of urban land expansion in Lanzhou City from 1995 to 2018 showed an increasing trend, with a total of 307 km2 of cultivated land and water area. The expansion of urban land in Lanzhou City was significantly related to regional GDP, social fixed asset investment, population density, population, policy, and terrain. The multi-agent model on the Netlogo software could simulate the expansion trend of urban land in Lanzhou, which provided a reliable simulation method for the expansion of valley-type cities. From 2020 to 2025, urban land use under the comprehensive development scenario, natural expansion development scenario, ecological and farmland protection development scenario all showed an increasing trend. The scale of expansion would range between 42.6-134.3 km2. The expansion mode would mainly be infilled expansion. Our results could provide decision support for the land space planning and ecological environment layout optimization for Lanzhou City.

[Simulation of Lanzhou urban land expansion based on multi-agent model].

The arid region of northwest China is an extremely fragile area of natural ecology. With population growth and continuous expansion of urban scale, the ecosystem in the arid region is facing greater pressure. Scientific assessment and prediction of the value of ecosystem services in arid areas are necessary and of great significance for the sustainable development of regional ecological environments. In this paper, a parametric optimal geographic model is used to analyze the driving factors of ESV spatial dispersion in Jiuquan City as an example. The PLUS model is also used to simulate the spatial and temporal evolution of ESV in 2035 under the scenarios of natural development, urban development, water constraints and ecological conservation, based on the historical change pattern of land use and ecosystem service value (ESV). The results showed that from 1980 to 2020, the plowland, water and construction land area in Jiuquan City showed a significant increasing trend, while other land use types showed a decreasing trend. ESV has increased from CNY 139.394 billion to CNY 142.642 billion. The expansion of plowland and water area was the main reason for the increase in ESV. Elevation, temperature, and precipitation are the main driving factors of spatial differentiation of ESV in Jiuquan City. The interaction of natural and human factors enhances the explanatory power of each factor to the spatial differentiation of ESV. In 2035, the ESV in four development scenarios in Jiuquan City showed an upward trend, and the ESV of the ecological protection scenario was the highest, which was the best mode to realize a sustainable development in Jiuquan City in the future. This study can provide scientific basis and decision-making basis for Jiuquan City to formulate sustainable development strategy.

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Zi-Yang Wang

Papers

Research on Landscape Pattern Construction and Ecological Restoration of Jiuquan City Based on Ecological Security Evaluation

Multidimensional poverty alleviation effect of different rural land consolidation models: A case study of Hubei and Guizhou, China

Acidification of drinking water improved tibia mass of broilers through the alterations of intestinal barrier and microbiota

[Simulation of Lanzhou urban land expansion based on multi-agent model].

Multi-Scenario Simulation and Driving Force Analysis of Ecosystem Service Value in Arid Areas Based on PLUS Model: A Case Study of Jiuquan City, China